


Repercussions

by Zorua_Illusion



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, Mentions of Ladybug, but this is more of a general populous focus, mentions of chat noir, mentions of marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-30
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-06-05 09:14:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6698896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zorua_Illusion/pseuds/Zorua_Illusion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At this point, everyone knew what the symptoms were. Sure as hell didn't make it any easier to deal with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Repercussions

At this point, everyone knows the symptoms. It sure as hell doesn’t make it any easier to deal with them.

One of the obvious ones is memory loss: you can’t remember what you’ve been doing for a time frame. You have no idea how you ended up where you were at. It was like you were a blackout drunk but so much worse.

Next is exhaustion. This normally doesn’t set in until later, when adrenaline and power wears off leaving a normal human behind; one who went through not only extreme physical exertion but emotional exertion as well (since the whole experience dragged out emotions rather than letting them run their course).

Third is mood swings, usually after sleeping off the exhaustion. Your body feels a little unbalanced and doesn’t really know how to deal with it, so your emotions are all over the place for a few days as your body sorts itself out.

Then it’s the stages of guilt (very similar to the stages of mourning) and rationalizing and, in some cases, forgetting. The heroes stop by, occasionally, checking on their wellbeing. It’s not a perfect solution, but it is a solution, and everyone has at least one set of listening ears, if not two.

Then comes remembering. In dreams, flashbacks, triggers. Only no one knows what the triggers are, not even the victims themselves. Someone looking panicked and scared on the street was now leading to people buying them comfort food or gifts or just having a chat. (Strangely, almost 80% could claim Marinette was to one to do this for them. The other 20% could claim Chat Noir.)

Eventually, help signs started popping up. Therapy. Support groups. Government funding and anonymous donors kept these programs free for the victims. Prevention signs started showing up to, but those proved to be useless when strategies switched. Even their heroes would be caught off guard, and the city was forced to remember that these two might be only human under those masks. Magic, yes, lucky, perhaps, but human.

Pamphlets were printed: _Signs that You Were Akumatized. What to Do After. Dealing With Guilt._ There were two signatures on every single one, a single message written in two different handwritings. Each one had the owner's personal flair - one was fanciful, the other a little wild - buut both were completely legible. _It wasn’t your fault. We’re here for you_. A circle with a line and five dots. An upside-down heart with four ovals spaced above it. Ladybug and Chat Noir. Apparently the pamphlets had been their idea, and they had commissioned an anonymous party to design them. Again, anonymous donors allowed these pamphlets to be printed. (It was somewhat humorous that even those who helped the masked beings wore masks as well.) It wasn’t a perfect solution. But it helped sometimes, and that would have to be enough. (None of this ever stopped the feelings of confusion and dread when the victims ‘woke up’ after being akumatized to see their heroes fist bumping nearby. Most went on like normal for a day, sorting business and the like, before taking a bit to just… break down.

Others don’t get the chance.)

**Author's Note:**

> My debut into the ML fandom and of course it's angst! Well, sort of. I feel like because it's a kid's show you're never really going to see the repercussions of being possessed by an akuma. I sort of got that feeling after watching "Guitar Villain" with Jagged Stone watching them fist bump. I mean, at this point, wouldn't you know what that meant? My take on the city trying to deal with literal super-powered beings existing.


End file.
